Sweet, Tender Release...
by Brian1
Summary: Sherry Birkin misses her mom and dad dearly, despite everything they did to her...what will she do to cope with the loss, now that she's all alone in Claire's house...? -Alternate beginning to "Even Fond Memories Can Come Back To Haunt You- -Epilogue Up-
1. Sweet, Tender Release...

Author's Note: This is part of my story entitled "Even Fond Memories Can Come Back to Haunt You..." although not officially.   
  
Confused?  
  
Well, let's look at it this way. This could technically be the beginning of "Even Fond Memories Can Come Back to Haunt You..." but in reality, it's just a what-if thing, which means some people can think of it as the beginning chapter, but most people can just think of it as a one-shot story that is just connected to "Even Fond Memories Can Come Back To Haunt You..." for continuity purposes. Also, I don't see this as part of "Even Fond Memories Can Come Back To Haunt You..." but some of you readers can.  
  
Alrighty, that sounded more confusing. Okay...let me try that again. This is a side story to "Even Fond Memories Can Come Back to Haunt You..." but it's not part of the main storyline. This is just a what-if story that never happens during the main story. However, if you want, you can interpret this as the beginning to the main story, or rather, an alternate beginning.  
  
So...enjoy.  
  
  
-Sweet, Tender Release...-  
-By Brian Marcelo-  
-brianmarcelo@hotmail.com-  
Rated R for extreme mature themes and major angst.  
  
  
"I'm so sorry that we have to leave you alone again, Sherry...but...Chris and I have to go meet up with Leon and the rest of the group in Paris, France...we're going there to take down Umbrella....but...it's too dangerous for you to go with us...and I'm afraid that we don't know anyone to baby-sit you so....Sherry....I'm so sorry....I hope you understand..." said Claire, as her eyes were tearing up.  
  
"Don't worry Claire...I'm a big girl....I can take care of myself!" said Sherry Birkin reassuringly.  
  
"Just remember to bring me back something, kay?" said Sherry with a smile, "The last time you left, you forgot to get me a Christmas present!"  
  
"Thank you for understanding Sherry...don't worry, we'll be back soon...I promise..." Claire said, as she gave her a big hug, as if it was the last one she'd give to Sherry.  
  
"Don't worry silly Claire! I'll be okay, after all, if I can survive a town filled with zombies, I can surely survive a week or two without you..." she said, as she hugged Claire back.  
  
"Okay Sherry...we'll be back soon..." said Claire, as she slowly took one last look at Sherry before leaving the house and getting into her car.  
  
"Remember, there's money on the kitchen table, and it's just enough to last you three months, so use it wisely, okay Sherry?" said Chris from the driver's seat of the jeep, "Of course, we'll be back by then, so you can buy a few non-essential things...heh heh..."  
  
"Alright Chris, thank you, and be back soon!" Sherry said cheerfully, as Chris and Claire backed out of the driveway and started driving towards the airport.  
  
Sherry waved at them until they slowly disappeared from her view.   
  
The sugary sweet smile that had been on her face faded away as soon as they had disappeared from view.  
  
'They're gone..." she said whispered to herself, "I'm all alone...I have the house to myself..."  
  
She stayed in the driveway for a few minutes, checking to see if Claire and Chris would come back and decide to bring her along. After half an hour and no sign of the Redfields' jeep, she sighed and went back into the lonely house.  
  
Looking around the house quietly, she retreated to the room that Claire had given her. It was nicely decorated with various posters of music artists, a medium sized bed, a wooden nightstand, a small CD player, and a small lamp. She also had a phone, but she never used it. One time Claire had noticed this and proceeded to ask her why she was never on the phone gossiping like all the other girls, and Sherry simply said that she didn't have anyone to call.  
  
Sherry Birkin was a lonely girl at her new school, never quite fitting in. Often times she would be seen eating lunch alone. She didn't really want to socialize anyways. Most of them were either preppy girls or sports loving jocks, both of which all cared about sex and only sex. Not wanting to be part of something like that, she distanced herself from them all. Besides...they all wouldn't understand the pain and horror she had gone through. None of them ever could...   
  
She plopped herself on to her bed, wondering what she should do now that she was home alone for what looked like quite a long time..  
  
"Maybe I should write something...like...a book on how to survive a town full of the undead?" she said aloud, as if the walls and ceiling could hear her.  
  
She sighed heavily. She was alone, for what could be months...  
  
"Might as well use this time to dwell on things..." she said to herself quietly, as she took a pendant off her nightstand.  
  
She held it for what seemed like an eternity to her, until she finally decided to open it. Holding it a closer to her eyes, she was greeted by a picture of her family...what used to be her family, anyways.   
  
It had been a long time since she had opened up her pendant, not wishing to cry like she always did whenever she saw her parents in that picture. Still alive...still with her.  
  
Her whole world went upside down so fast...first, her father had gone missing...then her mother gave her a pendant and told her to go to the Raccoon City Police Department...then she had to fend for herself when the RPD went under siege by the zombies...but then, she met up with Claire and Leon...unfortunately for Sherry, her father had become a G-Virus monster, and proceeded to hunt her down, eventually finding her and impregnated her with a G-Virus embryo...thankfully, Claire had found a vaccine, called the "Devil", to cure her...  
  
Sherry sighed as she remembered all the events from her stay in Raccoon City. She didn't think about all those things often. However, there was one thing that stayed in her mind ever since Leon, Claire, and herself had escaped from the city...   
  
Her mom and dad were dead...they weren't coming back.   
  
They were dead...truly dead...  
  
She didn't even get to say goodbye to them. Didn't even get to say "I love you mom...dad..."...  
  
She knew her dad never wanted to hurt her...her dad at the time was a monster...not her real dad...  
  
Her mom...she may have been all work-work, but a few times when she was home, they would actually bond...she knew deep down that her mom didn't want to ever hurt her either...even though she had put a sample of the G-Virus in the pendant that she had given to Sherry...she knew that her mother loved her, especially since she had told to her to go to the RPD so that she would be protected...  
  
She was very close to her dad and mother...and now they were gone...gone forever...  
  
Sherry curled up with a pillow and started to cry furiously into it, hoping that somehow, her mother would come into the room and try to soothe her little girl's mind. No one came though, so she kept crying into the night...  
  
  
-Meanwhile, the Redfields are on their way to Paris, France via commercial airplane-  
  
  
"Hey Claire...what's wrong?" asked Chris, as he popped a peanut into his mouth.  
  
"Nothing...just...I feel so bad for leaving Sherry alone...again." she said while sighing.  
  
"Well...you shouldn't worry too much...she's a big girl, she can take care of herself, and besides, we'll be home soon." he said, as if it wasn't a big deal.  
  
"Chris...the poor girl lost her mom and dad...and..." she replied, not sure if she wanted to finish her sentence.  
  
"And..?" asked Chris with curiosity.  
  
"She's...she's a loner at school...she never plays with any kids...and...when we had come back from Antarctica I noticed something..." she said, starting to feel afraid, "She had woken up before me and was eating breakfast, and she was starting to hold the butter knife for awhile...I noticed that when I came into the room...she kept holding it for a few more seconds, the slowly put it back down the table."  
  
"No...not Sherry..." he said in disbelief, "She couldn't possibly be...?"  
  
"She might be...teens these days have lots of angst and sadness growing inside them...but Sherry's been through much more then them...I...I'm afraid she might...she...might..." said Claire, trailing off as her eyes started to water.  
  
"Claire...Sherry is a good girl...after all she's been through, I would think that she would be cherishing her life..." said Chris reassuringly, "I bet Sherry wouldn't even dream of doing it..."  
  
  
-Middle of the night, Redfield Residence-  
  
  
Sherry Birkin woke up in a cold sweat, panting and breathing heavily.  
  
Yet another nightmare had cursed her sleep.  
  
"Not again..." she said to herself, as she tried to shake the nightmare from her head. It was the same one from last night...the one where she's being chased by her dad and mom, one a G-Virus monster, the other a T-Virus zombie. Both of them kept saying repeating Sherry's name in grunts...both asking her to join them...  
  
"To join them..." Sherry repeated quietly, "I should...join them?"  
  
"Why do they want me to join them...? Do they...miss me as much as I miss them...? Mommy...daddy....?" she in a hushed whisper, "Mommy...daddy...I miss you...I...I want to join you....so we can be a family again...."  
  
Thinking about it for a long time, she decided that she would do just that.  
  
After all...she missed her parents. She desperately wanted to see them again.   
  
There was only one way to see them though...   
  
Sherry didn't care about the consequences...   
  
All she cared about was finding a way to get there.  
  
She quickly jumped out of bed and looked around the house, hoping to find something that would help her find her parents.  
  
She looked into the storage and found a piece of rope.  
  
"This'll have to do..." she said quietly to herself, as she picked it up.  
  
She went back into her room and lay the rope on her bed, deciding that if she was going to meet her parents, she might as well get cleaned up. She headed for the bathroom, slipped off her nightgown, and took a shower, making sure she was clean. As she got out of the shower and looked into a mirror, she thought that she might as well leave the world the same way she came into it. ..  
  
"I don't look too bad..." she commented to herself while blushing a faint red, as she looked into the mirror, "Heh...if only the jerks at school could see this..."  
  
After admiring herself for a while, surprised that she looked quite mature for her age, she went back to her bedroom and got the rope. Looking for some place to put it, she decided that she would tie the noose around the ceiling fan, especially since it was nice and sturdy...  
  
After tying the rope tightly on the ceiling fan, she got a chair and made sure everything was measured correctly. She closed the door and windows in her room, not wanting any neighbors to hear her screams...  
  
Stepping up on to the chair, she suddenly hesitated for a second, thinking about Claire.   
  
"Claire..." she said quietly, wondering if this was the right thing to do.  
  
Slowly, she got off the chair, took out a piece of paper, and scribbled down a note for Claire, explaining why she was doing this. After she was done, she put it in an envelope and put it on her nightstand.  
  
"I'm sorry Claire...I hope you can forgive me. Please...forgive me for what I did. Thank you for adopting me and taking me into your family. I'm so sorry that I can't stay around..."  
  
She was determined to see her parents again. Even if it meant leaving Claire...  
  
Breathing in deeply, she stepped on to the chair again and put the noose tightly around her neck, surprised that she actually knew how to set this all up, as if it this was her fate...  
  
"I'm coming mom...dad..." she said to herself, as she put the noose around her neck, "Sweet, tender release...from this nightmare...at last..."  
  
After saying that, she kicked the chair that she was standing on top of on to the ground...   
  
  
-The End-  
  
  
That was scary....but doesn't it seem like Sherry would probably do that...?  
  
After all, she's been through a lot... 


	2. Epilogue

Author's Note: A short fellow up to "Sweet, Tender Release...", since I felt like it deserved an Epilogue.  
  
Also, this is only an alternate beginning to "Even Fond Memories Can Come Back To Haunt You..." and as such, can be considered cannon fodder.  
  
Anyways, on with the epilogue...  
  
  
-Sweet, Tender Release...-  
-By Brian Marcelo-  
-brianmarcelo@hotmail.com-  
Rated R for extreme mature themes and major angst.  
  
  
-Epilogue-  
  
  
"And in other news today, the 12 year old daughter of famed Umbrella researchers William Birkin and Annette Birkin, who had both died during the nuking of Raccoon City, was found dead this afternoon." said the male news reporter solemnly.  
  
"How she had escaped Raccoon City is not certain at this point, but we do know that apparently she was adopted by young college student named Claire Redfield, who has a brother who worked for the S.T.A.R.S. team that was part of Raccoon City's Police precinct." said the female news reporter.  
  
"Sherry Birkin was found in her room, apparently by means of suicide. Since the police are still investigating other possibilities, we cannot disclose any further information at the time." said the male news reporter.  
  
"Her legal guardian, Claire Redfield, has been contacted with the tragic news. She was, for reasons unknown, in Paris, France. She is currently a suspect in the case, seeing as how she had left the girl alone at home. At the moment she is flying back to America to be questioned." said the female news reporter.  
  
"More news after we come back from commercials." said the male news reporter, as the station went into break time.  
  
"Tragic, huh?" commented the female news reporter, who looked a bit sad.  
  
"Yeah, I know...the poor girl..." replied the male news reporter, "If only that Claire person had stayed home with that Sherry girl...then maybe she'd still be alive."  
  
  
-The End-  
  
  
That was a bad Epilogue, but I hope you like it anyways. As usual, please rate and review. 


End file.
